Polling stations open, Iranians head to vote in presidential elections

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
28 Jun 2024 08:09

Iranians head to the polls to cast their ballots for their next president following the death of their former President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

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An Iranian man casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in the capital Tehran on June 28, 2024. (Photo by RAHEB HOMAVANDI / AFP)

Polling stations across Iran opened on Friday morning for the 14th presidential election. Starting at 8 am local time, the stations will welcome voters for ten hours, with the Interior Ministry having the option to extend voting if necessary.

Iranians began heading to the polls as soon as the stations opened to elect the country's new president.

Iranian leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei cast his ballot as soon as voting commenced at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah in Tehran.

قائد الثورة والجمهورية الإسلامية السيد علي #خامنئي يدلي بصوته في حسينية الإمام الخميني في #طهران.#الميادين #إيران_الجمهورية_تستمر pic.twitter.com/fdv7MipR8A
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) June 28, 2024

Speaking to a large number of reporters after casting his ballot, the leader of the Islamic Revolution urged Iranians to turn out to vote as a "definite necessity" for their country.

Dive deeper

More than 61,450,000 eligible Iranian voters can participate in the ongoing elections both, domestically and internationally. Individuals born on or before June 28, 2006, are eligible to vote.

Approximately 59,000 polling stations have been established across the country, including over 15,000 mobile stations. Additionally, 340 polling stations have been set up in 100 countries to allow Iranian expatriates to vote.

The security of the election is being ensured by forces from the police, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), and Basij.

Who are the candidates?

The remaining candidates are Saeed Jalili, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, and Masoud Pezeshkian.

Earlier, two candidates had withdrawn from the race at different times, the latest of which was Alireza Zakani, the current mayor of Tehran. Zakani called on either Qalibaf or Jalili to leave the race and secure victory for Iran's Revolutionary Front.

The second candidate to withdraw was Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, who withdrew on Wednesday.

It is worth noting that President Ebrahim Raisi's death required that Khamenei call for early elections, according to the country's constitution.

Raisi's term saw major developments in domestic and foreign policies, which saw the country secure several accolades and bolster international partnerships, spearheaded by late Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian.